Monday, 3 October 2011

In my talk at KM Brazil this week, I am covering the topic of the KM culture change, and one slide deals with the issue of incentives.

I am coming to the view that there are 4 main personal incentives for KM, and they are as follows, from the weakest to the strongest.

The first is logic. People understand that KM makes economic sense to the organisation, and can deliver personal value to the individual. This is a weak incentive, but needs to be in place before moving up the scale to the other three.

The second is emotion. KM sounds like it's a good thing to do, it sounds easy, it sounds attractive. You woulld rather like to try it if you have the time.

The third is company expectation. Management make it clear that KM is part of the job. Everybody want to do a good job, and KM is considered part of doing a good job. Neglecting KM is neglecting your responsibility and doing a poor job. Personal pride becomes part of the driver.

The fourth and most powerful incentive is peer pressure. If everyone else is doing KM, then you stand out as the "oddball". Once a critical KM mass kicks in - supported by logic, emotion and expectation - then peer pressure cements the deal.

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Nick Milton

I am a director for Knoco, the international firm of knowledge management consultants, offering a range of knowledge management services, including knowledge management strategy, knowledge management framework development, and knowledge management implementation services.
I also have an interest in Lessons Learned